Physics
| color | wavelength interval | frequency interval |
|---|---|---|
| red | ~ 700–635 nm | ~ 430–480 THz |
| orange | ~ 635–590 nm | ~ 480–510 THz |
| yellow | ~ 590–560 nm | ~ 510–540 THz |
| green | ~ 560–490 nm | ~ 540–610 THz |
| blue | ~ 490–450 nm | ~ 610–670 THz |
| violet | ~ 450–400 nm | ~ 670–750 THz |
| Color |
(nm) |
(THz) |
(μm−1) |
(eV) |
(kJ mol−1) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Infrared | >1000 | <300 | <1.00 | <1.24 | <120 |
| Red | 700 | 428 | 1.43 | 1.77 | 171 |
| Orange | 620 | 484 | 1.61 | 2.00 | 193 |
| Yellow | 580 | 517 | 1.72 | 2.14 | 206 |
| Green | 530 | 566 | 1.89 | 2.34 | 226 |
| Blue | 470 | 638 | 2.13 | 2.64 | 254 |
| Violet | 420 | 714 | 2.38 | 2.95 | 285 |
| Near ultraviolet | 300 | 1000 | 3.33 | 4.15 | 400 |
| Far ultraviolet | <200 | >1500 | >5.00 | >6.20 | >598 |
Electromagnetic radiation is characterized by its wavelength (or frequency) and its intensity. When the wavelength is within the visible spectrum (the range of wavelengths humans can perceive, approximately from 390 nm to 750 nm), it is known as "visible light".
Most light sources emit light at many different wavelengths; a source's spectrum is a distribution giving its intensity at each wavelength. Although the spectrum of light arriving at the eye from a given direction determines the color sensation in that direction, there are many more possible spectral combinations than color sensations. In fact, one may formally define a color as a class of spectra that give rise to the same color sensation, although such classes would vary widely among different species, and to a lesser extent among individuals within the same species. In each such class the members are called metamers of the color in question.
Read more about this topic: Color
Famous quotes containing the word physics:
“Mathematics should be mixed not only with physics but with ethics.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“We must be physicists in order ... to be creative since so far codes of values and ideals have been constructed in ignorance of physics or even in contradiction to physics.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“The fundamental laws of physics do not describe true facts about reality. Rendered as descriptions of facts, they are false; amended to be true, they lose their explanatory force.”
—Nancy Cartwright (b. 1945)